Independence Party and Term Limits

The state’s Independence Party has had enough distractions and internal fighting this year to make them look more like a circus and less like the New York’s largest minor party.

They might be hard to take seriously at all — if it weren’t for term limits. It’s an issue where their procedure-orientated agenda dovetails neatly with voter pessimism, giving them a weird relevance even as their other issues – internal fights, alleged anti-Semitism — turn people away.

Yesterday, the IP chairman of Staten Island, Frank Morano, sent Christine Quinn a lengthy letter asking her not to yield to the growing pressure from her constituents on the city council by changing term limits.

“It’s been such a disappointment to scores of New Yorkers all over the city that you seem to be entertaining the idea of tinkering with our city’s Term Limits law. I’d like to urge you not to do so.”

It’s only an early shot across the bow, and nothing compared to what billionaire term-limits advocate Ron Lauder (or Mike Bloomberg, for that matter) may do if and when Quinn tries to pass new legislation on the matter or put it on the ballot. But still, it’s worth marking an occasion where the Independence Party may be more in tune with average voters than the elected council.